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Late last year, SkyDrive received a big boost in storage capacity. No longer do we have a measly 5GB, but 25GB. Imagine what you can do with 25GB of secure storage. I know I found a few uses. You do not need Windows Live Messenger installed to use the ActiveX IE drag and drop tools.

Here is a little guide on how to upload your entire video, picture, or software collection onto SkyDrive in encrypted, password protected archives. You have both a private and public section for your SkyDrive. This is great for storage, but downloading all those files after losing them could take a while. I am certain in due time there will be features for downloading large amounts of files at once or a decent Firefox addon. The "Download as .zip file" doesn't seem to work for 4GB of data.

The Browser of Choice: I recommend using Internet Explorer 7.0+ and installing the ActiveX controls for SkyDrive. Using any other browser deprives the user of status updates, which file is done uploading, total upload size, and length estimation. You can also drag and drop all of your files in one huge queue instead of five at a time. Drag, drop, and leave IE be.

Get the Software: You will need 7-Zip. I recommend it over an expired WinZip or WinRAR evaluation copy. Also, we are using 7-zip for the encryption options, not superiority. If you have a Hotmail account, you already have a SkyDrive account. Otherwise, create one. I have an example for 7-zip settings at the end.

Box O' Memories: Find a juicy folder full of memories, like My Pictures. You can right click this folder, find 7-Zip in the list, highlight it to expand, and select "Add to Archive". When the Add to Archive window appears, you will see several options. I recommend, for JPEG and PNG formats, the Normal compression method. JPEG files are already compressed. Select higher compression methods for BMP and TIFF. Leave the other options as their default, such as the LZMA method. You can choose whatever archive format you wish, but I recommend .7z. because it offers better encryption.

Splitting the Archive: The box below, titled Split to Volumes, will be the crucial factor on how you will go about uploading your files onto SkyDrive. The upload limit is 50MB per file, so you can easily type in 45M per part to be safe. Let's say you have over 5,000 files of pictures and video totaling over 6GB of data. You will end up with a hundred or so file parts. Dragging and dropping these into the proper window for SkyDrive will take care of everything. I uploaded 87 46MB files without fail or error.

Select a Strong Password: Type in a password. The longer and more complex, the better. Alternating upper and lower case with numbers and symbols is always a great idea, as long as you can remember the password, of course. I usually have passwords 20+ characters long that go along with a certain pattern my fingers will always remember. Fingers have their own memory and will remember patterns. Whatever password you choose should be good enough, though. As long as it's a bit complex. Do not use complete words in the dictionary.

Encryption: The .zip format uses AES-256 encryption as well, but does not offer to encrypt file names. Encrypting significantly increases the time it takes to create the archive, but please have patience. Check the box "Encrypt file names". This will hide unique file names. The encryption will use the AES algorithm with a 256-bit key. This will increase the difficulty of brute force attacks to prying eyes or if someone gains access to your Live account. Now for the final step: naming your archive. This should be at the top as Archive and typically will default the name to what folder or file you have selected to throw into the archive first.

Take a Nap: When you click okay, go find something else to do because it will a while. You may notice if you have Windows Explorer open with the target folder viewable that it will start populating with files with the scheme "FileName.7z.001". This is normal. Depending on how you split the archive, you may have under 100, or you may have a thousand. No matter the file size, as long as they under 50MB, use the drag and drop option. It works great.

More Info: SkyDrive will tell you the filename in detail so that you will be able to check exactly which part you have uploaded so far. On the webpage for SkyDrive folder view, select View and click Details. You will see the file format on the right side with the numbering scheme (.001, .002. etc). It might take a while to upload everything, but to me, this is worth it considering this is 25GB of online storage for free with a rather generous upload limit. Not only that, but SkyDrive is easy to use.

Future Reference: When GDrive is available, that may give us an additional ridiculous amount of space to abuse. Between DVDs, external hard drives, and free online storage; losing data will be a thing of the past with good habits. A great feature for SkyDrive is the ability to upload files onto your SkyDrive and embed the file on a webpage for quick public downloading. It's as easy as embedding a YouTube video.

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